Contributed by Head of Grade 5 Emily Edwards
This year, Grade 5 students have the opportunity to utilize iPads in school to create, design, retrieve information, and capture their thoughts and ideas. In preparation for this opportunity, Mount Vernon has brought Apple Educators and Trainers on campus to instruct the teachers on best practices, tips, tricks, and applications for creation. During pre-planning, the teachers learned how to use Keynote to take a photo and add images, labels, clip art, and more to the original image.
I was ready to put this idea to the test during the second week of school. I read Say Something, written by Peter H. Reynolds to my students which shared the message of standing up and saying something when it comes to things you believe in. After reading the book, students brainstormed phrases that people should say or hear more often.
Then, using their iPads, students took a photo in front of a blank black or white background and uploaded the photo to Google Slides. Once in a slide, students were able to add a dialogue box to type their message. Each slide was then printed and mounted to the wall in the Grade 4 and Grade 5 hallway as a reminder to βSay Somethingβ.
This project gave students the opportunity to practice uploading images, adding text boxes, troubleshoot problems, and ultimately design a high-quality poster for their hallway.
This project had many “fail up” moments, but together with the students, we were able to navigate problems and seek solutions quickly.
